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Report on December 2006 activities
Hi Wingers
Well not much happening with the cold weather, dark nights, etc…Hang on, what am I saying! This is North Wales Wings! There is always something happening here!
December has actually been quite lively with seasonal parties and such. On the first of the month Ed & Q came to visit us, needless to say Ed and I escaped to the garage to play bikes but Q & Loopy spotted our escape and dragged us back inside to eat a Chinese meal.
On the 4th our annual NWW Christmas party was held at the Beaufort Park Hotel in Mold where we hold our regular meetings (see web site). Attendance by most of our members meant we filled two tables & after the helpings of turkey & mince pies came the award ceremony hosted by Dave Turvey where sweeties were handed out for furthest travelled, most events attended, etc followed by the ‘secret Santa’ where each of our members had drawn a name and bought that person a small present reflecting their likes, personally, etc. Nigel, the ‘king of Karaoke’ received a shower proof microphone-shaped radio to practice crooning in the shower & Ed was like a kid in a sweetshop with a huge tub of mixed sweeties while we ‘grown ups’ received bottles of wine & chocolates. After the meal we went back to the Chase to relax with tea, biscuits, & wing photos slideshow.
As most bikes were hibernating Dave T took the opportunity to have his serviced before putting her to bed.
On the 16th Ed came to give me a hand with our1200 combo. I had changed one head gasket so it ran but still pumped air. Ed decided to refit the radiator, fill it up with water, and check for bubbles by turning the engine over while looking into the radiator. A huge water geyser blasted upwards not only jet washing Ed but blowing all the Incey-Winceys off the garage ceiling. Changing the other gasket soon had her purring like Joanna before Loopy ended our playtime to scrub us clean ready for ‘QUIZ NIGHT’ at the Chase.
The quiz was a great success due to much preparation by Joanna & Nigel. The girls served a delicious choice of food before we were divided into teams with the visiting Pennines and Cheshire wingers making our A & B teams work hard for our points. The winners were of course the unbeatable Pennine crowd who enlisted the help of David Mackintosh while our NWW ‘A’ team and the aptly named Ex Wings team led by ‘Ed the sidecar’ (who sneaked young Emily in to answer all questions after 2001) came joint second.
The Cheshire team led by Kevin & Betty & including four of their new members made a bold effort playing a very good joker with a stunning 1950’s round that left us with some grey hairs too! After the Quiz we held a sing along of various Carols led by Jan T & Loopy that seemed to sound better & better as the drink flowed. Of course this sing along evolved into a karaoke session that lasted into the wee small hours.
Our thanks to all who took part especially the Cheshire wingers who helped make the night a great success and the Pennine team who are currently looking for a larger cabinet to hold their ever growing collection of trophies.
On the 24th Ed called to pick up the Kawasaki with a bike trailer towed by his sidecar outfit. I would not normally mention this but the expert way he tied it down left me wondering if he had been practicing…I may have a quiet word with Q.
This was also the night of Colly and Stevie’s annual private Christmas Eve party held at their house with guests including their friends, neighbours, & some members of the NWW crew. The night was a great success with lots of food lovingly prepared by Colly while Stevie & guests supplied the drinks. Incidentally Stevie has an amazing habit of pouncing to ‘top up’ your glass each time you took a sip making him the perfect host! Joanna baked chocolate brownies while other guests brought other delicious offerings. Thanks to Ann G & Loopy the karaoke soon came into play and the sound of sweet singing (?) filled the air as Nigel, Stevie, Loopy, and the other guests ‘sleighed’ us with Christmas inspired ‘jingles’.
To our surprise a strip ‘o’ gram dressed as a police officer turned up to handcuff Loopy and show her his truncheon! He was of course our very own Ed on his lunch break who had stopped by for a coffee although a call from his HQ soon had him back on the beat protecting our streets from drunken singing revellers, leaving us to get drunk, revel, and sing.
It was only the threat of the neighbourhood 2am anti noise brigade and the effect of the falling down juice that eventually brought the party to a close. Again NWW wish to thank Colly and Stevie for their fantastic hospitality.
The years end was marked with a New Years Eve party hosted by Nigel & Joanna, where food, drink, singing, chatting, purring, and laughter climaxed at midnight with a good hearted rendition of Old Lang Sine that had all twenty plus of us holding hands while singing all the verses at the top of our voices and toasting the passing year with Champagne while wishing a happy new year to all friends past, present, & future.
Before closing all at NWW would like to send best wishes to Janet Turvey, Loopy, Stevie CD, Josh, Joanna Mackintosh, & Ann G who all celebrated birthdays in January (sorry it’s slightly belated but with so many of you I’ve only just finished typing your names!) while a special February 14th birthday & Valentine wish (+X ’s from Allen) goes out to Christine Prescott.
See our updated website www.northwaleswings.org.uk for new photos, info, etc.
Cheers
Mark